Today is Election Day 2020, and the last day for Americans to cast their vote for Democracy or Autocracy. But this will not be the day when we know the results, even though some will try to persuade us otherwise.
History has much to teaches us. In 1948, the Presidential Election was between Democrat Harry S Truman and Republican Thomas E Dewey. Truman had ascended to the Presidency on April 12, 1945 with the death of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. 1948 was Truman’s first election for President. He needed to win for himself. The Republican candidate, Thomas E Dewey, was governor of the state of New York and had run against FDR in the 1944 election. Dewey had gained prominence as a prosecutor and made significant progress against organized crime and the Mafia. He was a moderate Republican and supported many of the social programs of FDR’s New Deal, the UN, and war on Communism and the Soviet Union.
The 1948 campaign was close in several states. As the early vote counts began it appeared that the Republicans were in for a good night. The Chicago Tribune, a Republican paper, had little use for Truman, and 60 years later,in a retrospective of that fateful night, the paper commented that Truman had little use for them.
Seasoned Washington reporter for the Tribune, Arthur Henning covered the voting results. To meet the early edition deadlines, he reported that the current count signaled a clean sweep for Dewey and Republicans, with them taking the White House, House of Representatives and Senate.
The Tribune hurried to get the prediction out with the headline, Dewey Defeats Truman. Later that evening, the tide began to turn to favor the Democrats, but Henning defended his prediction. There were other factors in play. Strom Thurman was also in the presidential race as the candidate of the Dixiecrats, a racist party that had broken away from the Democrats. And there were three important states with tight votes, Ohio, Illinois, and California. Henning figured that the Republicans had the election. And the Tribune kept printing Dewey Defeats Truman.
After the dust settled and the count was completed, Henning had been right. Unfortunately for him and the Tribune the clean sweep had been by the Democrats.
A few days later as Truman took the train to Washington to resume his duties, he would stop along the way to speak with his supporters. It was at one stop that he held up the Chicago Tribune’s paper proclaiming his defeat. The photo clearly shows he relished the moment.
Election 2020 will not be decided tonight. Nor will it be decided tomorrow, regardless of what Trump and the Republicans say. There are and will be lots of legal wrangling and obstructions before the results are official and we know for certain who is President and under what circumstances.
By the way, the date of the 1948 election; Tuesday, November 3rd.
Remember, Dewey Defeats Truman. Patience is a virtue.